Saturday, February 28, 2009

Today was a very productive day. Though it didn't start being productive until about 2:00pm. We took it easy this morning, doing our best to avoid the inevitable packing and moving...

But once our friend Chris the-slave-driver showed up, Britton finally loaded the enclosed trailer full of our furniture and other belongings. I now have a TV, a love seat and a basketball goal in my living room. It's pretty depressing in so many ways...

First off, it's not like my furniture is going to the "cute little living room of my dreams"... in fact, it's going to a cold, metal storage building for an indefinite period of time until we find our own place to live. Then there's the whole "I can't believe we're moving away from Pauls Valley" sadness that kicks in every 28 minutes or so... I'm definately dealing with an onslaught of emotions.

Luckily we had some silly guys around to keep it light.

This is Jeff.

He is several feet up in the air (I won't say how many just in case his mom reads this) helping Britton get the all-important television antennae down and loaded.

This is Bradford.

He is a little dissapointed that Jeff is on the tower - dangerously high in the air - all by himself.

This is Jeff and Bradford both on the tower.

This is the director, supervisor and delegator of all activity.

OK, maybe he did a little work...

And this is the sweet boy who put the icing on his Granne's Apple-Banana birthday cake.

He took the job very seriously.

Please excuse the slightly out-of-focus pics. It's hard to keep icing off the floor, out of the hair, off of the clothes and still get decent photos...

Happy Birthday Granne!

Friday, February 27, 2009

I was up past 3am this morning messing with video stuff. I just couldn't stop. I was going through old footage, pulling it off the camera, messing with it in iMovie.... it was fun.

This morning, however, has not been fun. And while I realize I rarely share photos of myself with you, I thought you needed to see this for yourself...

But as a result of the lack of sleep, I can now proudly share with you a blip of Miles singing the alphabet.



Pretty darn cute, huh?

Knitting, look out. You have some new, steep competition for my precious time. (And I mean the video stuff....Miles is clearly a major player in the battle for my time....)

F.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Midland House Update: There is at least one more offer on the house. Supposedly, the listing agent will go before the bank tomorrow and present all offers. The bank has removed the realty lock box from the house and there's now a repo company's box on the front door. That's a good indicator that they're finally ready to take action. Now, let's all pray they find our offer attractive! :)

And now on to something more fun...

Miles and I walked to the train depot late this afternoon. I should have never taught him that we could walk there, because now, as soon as we're outside, he's walking away from me saying "trrraaaiinnnn, trrraaaiiinnn!". Life may never be the same.

While we were checking out the big antique engine on site, a real live train came whizzing by...

This caused grrrrreeeeaaaat! excitement, a tiny bit of fear, and a 7 month pregnant woman running to try to get ahead of it (while carrying Miles & a camera) in an effort to get a photo of Miles with the engine. The darn thing was just moving too fast, so here's whatya get...

Too bad nobody was running ahead of me to get a photo of the running.

"Bye..."

"Traaaaiiinnn."

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

A trip to the park was the highlight of our day...

I like this weather... 70 degrees, not too much wind. But I won't let the blooming daffodils and chirping birdies fool me. True to Oklahoma form, they're predicting snow flurries this weekend.

F.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my office.

Found that in a drawer while packing. It's from when I was a bank teller...

Today I've made 2 dozen+ cupcakes for Britton's mom's birthday get-together.

And I'm doing it on about 3 hours of sleep.

And one time I lost count of how many tablespoons of cocoa I was putting in the bowl and I started bawling.

Pregnancy + Lack of Sleep = Disaster

Someone warn Britton.

But they turned out alright, so I've recovered.

***

Yesterday was interesting.

We had a bit of a surprise when the guys from Midnight to Twelve came through yesterday afternoon. Their tour had a bit of a hiccup, so they crashed here for the night. We love it when they're here.

This was parked in the street in front of my house. It's what happens when M212 comes through. The neighbors don't care. We aren't loud. But it is big.

Meet Bruno.

Miles, who as you know is VERY into cars, trucks, & trains, was completely taken with Bruno.

He got a quick tour from Uncle Drew before they left out this morning.

He calls it "Breeeenuuuu".

Anyway, back to why I was up all night....

We always stay up too late when the guys are here because we don't get to see them very often and really enjoy hanging out. So when my sister left to head to her house (an hour away) at 2am, there was a police officer sitting around the corner. He inevitably wanted to know what was going on with Bruno, the lights on, etc.. in the middle of the night. He immediately began to tail her big, black 4x4 Ford F150 and pulled her over on her way out of town. Unfortunately, her truck tag was out of date. I won't mention by how much, but it was enough that the officer impounded her vehicle. This was obviously quite traumatic for my sister and she called the house and everyone's cell phones (because no one was answering) trying to get someone to come pick her up. By the time she got back to my house, we were all so wound up from the events we just kept visiting 'til after 4am.

Miles was oblivious to all of this and promptly awoke at 7am ready for the day.

So off we got to the birthday party.... Happy Birthday Grandma Linda!

And after that I'm heading up to Bricktown Live in OKC to watch M212 play. If you're in the area, they go on at 8:45pm. I'll catch you there....

unless I'm asleep in the corner.

F.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The word on the house is that there is no word. Apparently the realtor sat on hold with the bank for over 45 minutes this afternoon, but we never heard anything back. Stay tuned for more details....

In the meantime, I might need an intervention...

The desire to know...

1. where I'm going to live
2. how long will it take before I can live there
3. how will that timing work out with the baby being born
4. what is the baby's name going to be
5. how will Miles adjust through the move
6. and, who will be the next American Idol..

Well, it's all starting to take it's toll on me. And in order to clear my mind, I knit.

There are baby hats everywhere.

***

Just in case you wanted to know, this is what Miles & I eat when Britton isn't home for supper....

baked salmon
sweet potato fries
spinach leaves w/ peppercorn ranch dressing

Britton would probably not have considered that dinner to be edible. And frankly I don't know if it "goes" together. But it's what we had.

***

My brother's band, Midnight to Twelve, is officially back on tour tonight. They're playing in Tempe, AZ. And for any of you locals, they'll be in Dallas at The House of Blues Friday night. Holla if you want to carpool down.

For all you others, check 'em out if you never have. You'll like what you hear!

***

I'm excited about this...

Lance Armstrong rides again.

But his one-of-a-kind time trial bike was stolen out of the team truck. And that sucks. It's not like someone could just go pawn it. It's LANCE ARMSTRONG'S ONE-OF-A-KIND TIME TRIAL BIKE. Stupid thief. My bike was stolen once. I looked in pawn shops for months hoping to come across it.

One of the greatest print ads I've ever seen was a promo for the Tour de France.... I believe the year Lance won the 5th time. I used to have it in my "favorite things" box.... maybe I'll come across it while packing. Anyway, it said something like...

"the last time an Armstrong rose to such great heights, we landed on the freakin' moon".

I just loved that ad.

And I love to watch Lance ride.

And I love this face.

But not in that order.

F.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Call it the pregnancy.... Call it sentimental, but I've been reflecting on life at 327 N. Pecan lately. It won't long before we'll be saying good-bye to our little house. (sniff, sniff)

As I was just putting Miles down for his nap, I saw a faint white scratch at the top of the bead board paneling behind his crib. It reminded me of this story, which I will share with you courtesy of my old MySpace Blog (which only has about 10 entries ever.... it was a failed attempt).

***

It was the middle of the night in March and I was 9 months pregnant. The nursery was prepared for the baby to arrive. Part of the preparation had included new globes for the ceiling fan in that bedroom. I replaced the ugly cir. 1976 ones with a cute little two-tone white plaid number. I was really proud to have salvaged that charming little white fan. It was, after all, a Hunter. Top of the line. And while Britton and I have replaced all the other fixtures in our house, it was perfect for the nursery.

Now before I get to the part of the story where I tell you just how fast I jumped out of bed when this whole thing went down (literally), let me remind you how quickly a 9-month pregnant girl gets out of bed. It hadn't taken me less than 3 minutes to maneuver my gigantic body out of bed since Christmas. My back hurt and my arm was usually asleep from lying on my left side (per the doc's orders). I would, all in one hysterical effort, do this rocking motion to get myself out of the dip in the center of the bed and throw my legs over the side. It was quite a scene. My poor husband.

Back to the story…

Out of a deep sleep I arose to a strange "BANG!" and before I even knew I was awake I was half way down the hall, heading toward the sound. Britton laughs to this day over how swiftly I moved/waddled….taking off bravely toward the unknown danger. I flipped the light switch in the nursery and found the fan – light fixture and all - hanging from a single wire, still spinning and wobbling crookedly. I entered the room just as Britton arrived in the doorway, and then the entire apparatus came crashing to the floor, shattering my cute little globes, scratching my newly finished hardwood floors, throwing a breaker and shutting off the power in our entire house.

So there I stood. In my bare feet. Nine months pregnant. In the middle of the night. Wearing my pajamas. In the pitch black. With glass from my cute little globes everywhere.

I had to wait in the dark until Britton managed to get the power back and turn on the hall light. He threw me some shoes so I could make my way across the sea of shattered glass, get a broom and dustpan and begin to figure out just what the crap had happened. A quick evaluation revealed that the one of the fan blades had broken off at the stem. It snapped, flew across the room, hit the wall above the baby crib and fell into it. I freaked. What if Miles would have been in that bed? I started sobbing (9 months preggo, remember?)…"what if (sniff) the baby (sniff) would have been in there (sniff, sniff)?". Britton gently reminded me that he wasn't and we decided to leave the mess for the morning.

I share this with you because:

a) I've never heard of it happening before in my life
b) I now will never turn the fan in the baby's room on high
c) or my room for that matter
d) I would suggest that you don't either
e) It makes me wish someone would have had a candid camera....we'd be rich!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day!

In honor of the day, I pulled out my heart-shaped pancake molds. I use them once a year (maybe), so it was interesting. But aren't they cute?

The first pancake, well....

It was a complete disaster. So that one was for me...

But then I remembered how to do it and we were rockin' & rollin'.

Miles knows what a heart is, so at first, he didn't like biting it so that it wasn't a "haaar" anymore.

But he soon got over that.

A bell is no bell 'til you ring it,
A song is no song 'til you sing it,
And love in your heart
Wasn’t put there to stay -
Love isn’t love
'Til you give it away.
~Oscar Hammerstein, Sound of Music, "You Are Sixteen"

Thursday, February 12, 2009

There's a little cowboy in my house this morning. Well, maybe just a little redneck farmer....

Look at what I dressed him in. Only because my washing machine is broken, most of his pants have become too short over the last month, and overalls are the only thing hanging in his closet this morning (and frankly, they're getting too short also).

And I guess, as I just flipped through a bunch of my photos, that overalls aren't that uncommon for him. We got a load of them at garage sales when he was a teeny tiny baby....But it's the red shirt that does it. I'll admit that I couldn't resist.

And then there's the fact that he immediately ran to his horsey for a long ride this morning...

All the while singing "Nuuu Yoooooooooook, Nuuu Yooooooooook!" (New York, for those of you who don't speak 'Miles'), because they sing it on Madagascar...

Then the dismount....

And a quick kiss for the horsey...

I love my little farmer.

F.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

House Update: Our realtor says that the bank is working on a counter offer on the Midland house. I wish I could explain how surprised I am at this! I fully expected our offer to sit on someone's desk in Ohio for weeks on end...possibly months. Us never hearing a word and having no closure (literally!). This is how it can go with short sales.

But instead, apparently they're "working on it"! I'm so relieved. Now, if their counter could just be in the ball park... That's what we'll pray for today. :)

***

That being said, it's been a boring ol' day full of getting together taxes for our accountant, organizing paperwork, collecting boxes and making a plan of what to pack first.

I had fun looking at old pics for yesterday's blog. So here's another one. Exactly one year ago today...

Hard to believe he was running around the church yard this evening kicking a soccer ball and a year ago he was just barely scooting around in his Jeep walker.... and eating puffs. He used to l-o-v-e the puffs!


F.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Miles dove off the front porch steps today.

He usually waits for me. But he's getting bolder, and can actually do it by himself. I just like to be right there.... just in case.

Well, I was locking the front door and he decided to go by himself. He was carrying his big Mac truck and I think it threw his balance off.

I turned around just in time to see the head-first tumble onto the concrete...

It was bad for a moment.... I kinda freaked out. Guilt, heart-ache, tears.

Miles also freaked out. Large goose-egg, screaming, tears... but mostly over the fact that he dropped Mac and the truck & trailer came apart.

He's a tough little guy. As soon as we fixed Mac, he was good to go.

I'm so thankful to have a healthy, happy little boy. I cry every time I see the St. Jude's commercial on tv. So please don't think I'm flippant about something as minor as a goose egg and a couple of eye scrapes. I really was torn up about it. And I really am very, extremely, totally thankful it wasn't worse. Some would say, "welcome to the world of boys". I'm not sure if I can handle it...

***

There are tornados in Oklahoma today. It's February. Flower and lawn weeds are also blossoming in my back yard. I'm afraid they've been punked. Winter is not over. Though today has felt very much like an April day.

***

Off I go to knit. I got a new book in the mail today. Baby Beanies by Amanda Keeyes. I've been impatiently waiting on it.

She's an Australian children's photographer who picked up knitting a couple of years ago. She likes to knit hats as fun and colorful props for the kids she photographs. She wrote the patterns and photographed all 20 something hats in her book. Sounds right up my alley...

I'll be sure to post things when I finish them. (Assuming they actually look like they are supposed to...)

F.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Sorry I've been MIA from the world of blogging. Much has been going on....

Last Tuesday, we got a contract on our house. Here's our lucky buyer...

She's one of those people who exudes joy.... it's even her middle name. We couldn't be happier to leave our little home in her hands. And we close March 10th.

Which leads me to the panic attack part of this blog...

Luckily, my pastor spoke in depth about things like "letting Jesus turn your water into wine" and "not worrying about anything" on two different occasions yesterday. I think I need those two messages on my iPod, playing repetitively in my ears.

And also a brown paper sack.

Britton, Miles and I spent Friday and Saturday searching for houses in Shawnee. We found one that we absolutely love. It would normally be out of our price range, but it's in foreclosure and the bank is willing to short sell it. Up until Friday, that was greek to me... But now, after much time spent reviewing countless articles and videos regarding the process of a short sale as well as discussions with title agents and realtors, I am somewhat of an expert. And in my expert opinion, I have no idea if we stand a snowballs chance at getting this house for the amount we offered before 2011. Apparently these things can take an enormous amount of time.

They can also happen relatively quickly. And that's my prayer. I sure do like this house...

http://www.chrealty.com

***

I'm also feeling a weird combination of lazy, yet restless.

At 11pm Saturday night I experience restlessness and cleaned all the Mega Blocks from the church nursery. Here they are in their bleach bath....

I thought it was quite colorful and cheery.

Today, because I was lazy, I lounged in my pajamas all day. Except for when I organized all my coupons and then saved $34.00 on my groceries at Homeland. Do you have any money saving tips to share? I'm all ears. As I'm sure everyone else is in this economy...

***

So that's where I've been and what I've been doing. Mostly, my camera has been in it's bag in my closet, so I have no new, cutsie little photos of my kid to share.

So I'll share an old one. 'Cause I'm feeling quite sentimental and nostalgic these days.

I hope I sleep this good tonight.
F.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

This afternoon, our pastor and friend, Brian, called to see if Miles would like to come check out the fire trucks while he was on shift at the station (Brian's also Pauls Valley's fire chaplain). Since we had just tried to track one down in our neighborhood, I jumped at the chance.

At first, he was NOT interested in climbing up in the big trucks.

So we tried a couple of the smaller ones.

In no time at all, he got up the confidence to start touching every button in every truck.

My apologies to the next fireman in this truck. There's no telling what will start going off when you turn that bad boy on...

[BLOG UPDATE: 5:40pm - Just saw Brian at church and he told me that he had to take this truck out on a call about an hour after we left. Apparently the heater was blaring hotter 'n hades and the truck idled really fast due to button pushing and switch flipping. I plead innocence. You can plainly see that he is the on-duty adult in the above photograph and that I am just taking the pictures here.]

Of all the things at the fire station, Miles may have been most fascinated with the soapy water running into the drain. One of the trucks had just been washed...

"Baaaaaaath."

We also tried to make it an even more educational trip by working on our colors....

I've learned that from the homeschooling moms around here. Everything can be made educational and count for school!

I couldn't get him to look at me here.

Entirely too many other fire trucks in sight.

Thanks for thinking of us Brian.

I'm especially grateful for how nicely he's napping after all the excitement.

With his firetruck in tow...